While these chapters were redundant on how important it was to keep this top secret, we can now see that
"the product" is indeed progressing along to satisfaction/completion.
pg. 204
Virginia continued analyzing the material that came in the lab door__from where, she did not know. Dr. Larson oversaw her lab's activities, and Virgina quite liked him...........he would occasionally stop by the lab to say hello and to check on progress and the all-important percentages.
Dr. Larson was waiting until he had a group of bigwigs in his office to make that call. Saying it out loud must have had more impact than passing around a number on a scrap of paper. Whoever he was trying to impress and whatever those percentages meant to them, one thing was becoming clear to people like Dr. Larson: The percentages were, compared to a year earlier, much better.This was very interesting and an eye opener....
pg. 199
Even if the patient were to be transferred to another medical facility, even a military hospital, elsewhere in the country, it would present too much of a security risk, too much of a potential leak of secure information. Clarke knew that releasing the young Navy man from Y-12 to another facility was never going to be an option, not while the war was going on, and not while this man was spouting information about what he was doing at work. Not only was he talking out of turn, he also wanted to travel to Japan and warn the emperor about what was going on here at CEW.I felt so bad for this young Navy man. He sounds like he has had a complete, mental breakdown, from working and learning about what they were creating, and how the government planned on using it.
D.K. has given us our first insight, of how participating in this project and learning what it is affected someone. Imagine the thousands that worked here, and later found out the truth. Living under these conditions, and secrecy was not bad enough, but to learn about what they took part in. I can only reiterate as I have in earlier posts, the mental stress these workers faced, later/after the war, had to be incredibly devastating for some. These people were used by our government, enticing them with good wages, to create something their moral fiber may have been completely against. They were not given the knowledge to choose if they would be okay with participating in such a project, that would go against the grain of who they are. I didn't expect the government to inform them of
"the product", but they could have asked them in the interviews for the job, if they would be uncomfortable with working on something that could potentially go against any moral or Christian beliefs, regardless of their patriotism. I just wonder how many would have been so anxious to take these jobs given that information/choice. Money can't always buy a person's soul. Soldiers weren't even given a choice to choose to take these jobs, they were redirected with no choice.
War is ugly, sacrifices must be made, freedom comes at a cost, we all have to look the other way at times when we don't agree with the policies or methods our government uses to keep us safe. I understand all of this, but, these people were treated like lab rats. I know I am younger than most here, and I have the luxury of not even being born during this time, so I can't relate to the attitudes of those who lived through this time, but I can say, it does not negate me having an opinion. We can say, oh at least they were given activities, dances, movie theaters and bowling alleys, etc.,(under surveillance by the "creepers"), but from a mental standpoint, this is just horrible, in my opinion. These chapters only expressed more and more of how this affected these people. More mental health facilities were needed, more mental health workers, more psychiatrists were brought in, and more wings needed to be built in the hospital.
Whatever fun these women were allowed to have was interrupted with
"the creepers" approaching them, reminding them they are being watched at all times. I seriously was creeped out reading how
"the creeper" showed up on Dot's date, knowing her name, and interrupting them on a quiet country road inside their car. It was disheartening when Rosemary and her roommate had gotten their apartment, had it all fixed up and were happy, only to be told it was being taken from them. Intrusion was everywhere, Helen playing basketball, only to see the two men watching. Celia being given a lie detector test without her knowledge, and being scared her letters back home was revealing something because they were being blacked out. Kattie being happy to clean the tanks and floors for privacy.
These chapters left me with a heavy, hurting heart.
